Take Chipotle, a favorite of the office lunch crowd. As McDonald’s and Burger King worked hard to expand their dollar menus and develop newer, cheaper snacks, it has moved in the other direction, incurring higher costs as it moves to more expensive ingredients like cooking oils made from non-genetically modified seeds.

It likes to promote its more selective choice of ingredients — hormone-free meat, organic vegetables, local suppliers — as a way to convince customers to pay often north of $6 for a burrito.

The latest move to shift away from genetically-modified ingredients means costs will keep going up — the company is starting with its oil but says it wants to eventually move all its produce in that direction. And it plans to pass on the higher costs to consumers via a price rise some time around mid-2014.